The Leading Cause of Death

The leading cause of death for Americans age two through 33 is
a traffic accident.

The head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration,
Dr. Jeffrey Runge, says that we have a vaccine to prevent many such
deaths... it’s called a safety belt.

According to the National Transportation Safety Board, “a
primary seat belt law is likely to save more lives than possibly
any single piece of legislation a state will consider.”

Primary seat belt laws permit law enforcement officers to ticket
motorists for an observed seat belt violation, just as they do for
any other motor vehicle law violation. Currently, a majority of
states (29) have secondary seat belt laws that permit enforcement
only if a motorist is first stopped for some other violation, such
as speeding.

Seat belts reduce the risk of serious injury or death in a traffic
accident by 45%, but young people are much less likely to use them.
Therefore, increased use of seat belts would significantly reduce
injury and death from alcohol-related traffic crashes.

A national survey of Americans found that people in states with
secondary laws support enactment of primary seat belt laws by two-to-one.